George Loder raised concerns about data gathering by the Maine Intelligence Analysis Center, which shares information it collects with other LE agencies
Bangor Daily News
AUGUSTA, Maine — The Maine State Police violated the law in 2018 when supervisors removed a now retired trooper from a joint law enforcement task force and transferred him to the agency's intelligence unit in Augusta, a jury found Friday.
Jurors deliberated for more than five hours before finding the state agency violated the Maine Whistleblowers' Protection Act. They awarded George Loder, 53, of Scarborough $300,000 in damages after hearing 4 1/2 days of testimony in U.S. District Court in Portland.
Loder left the courthouse smiling and holding his wife's hand shortly after the verdict was announced.
"It feels good is probably the best way to say it," he said. "It just feels good."
Loder's attorney, Cynthia Dill of Portland, called her client courageous and said it had been an honor to represent him.
"His courage is going to serve the privacy interests of all of us," she said. "I think the state police needs to fix the activity report, purge the personal identifying information of private citizens who are engaging in lawful activity, and I hope the Mills administration does a thorough vetting of the people in this case who are responsible."
Assistant Attorney General Paul Suitter, who defended the Maine State Police's actions, declined to comment Friday night or to say whether the verdict would be...
Although on appeal the court distinguished that there was new information in the claim, the court ultimately found the new information was not material, nor was it plead with particularity. The U....